Wind (Buryoku Book 4)

by Aaron Oster

  “Where was the last place you saw him?” she asked, turning her wrathful gaze on the cowering pair before her.

  “The edge of the Windblight,” one of them said, barely able to get the words out.

  Ikari knew that her brother would move fast, especially if he’d left people alive to come back and report to her. Kai had always been the crafty one, but no amount of trickery would save him from her wrath!

  When they met again, he would either bow to her and return to the clan, or she would put a permanent end to their family ties.

  22

  Roy was silent for a few moments as he allowed the shock of Marrie’s statement to wash over him. She was a member of the Herald clan, the same clan that he came from. That had to mean that they were related.

  When he failed to say anything and continued to stare at her, Marrie quirked an eyebrow.

  “What? Got nothing to say?”

  Roy shook himself out of his stupor and examined her more closely, but aside from the brown hair, he couldn’t see any traits that they had in common.

  “If we’re related, it must not be very closely,” he said, trying to keep the skepticism from his voice. “How were you able to tell I’m from the Herald clan?”

  Marrie rolled her eyes, pushing herself a bit more upright.

  “The clan is huge,” she said, looking out over the arena once more. “So, it’s hardly a surprise we don’t look alike, and as I said, you remind me of someone I used to know. In fact, you have so many of the same features that I’d have to be blind not to realize you were part of the clan.”

  Roy continued staring, despite knowing he might be coming off as rude. It was just that he’d been dreaming of this day his entire life, to finally find someone who was part of his family. Of all the places he’d expected to find them, it most definitely wasn’t here. But, now that he had, he had so many questions. Still, he had to be careful. She’d been exiled and had assumed that he had been as well.

  This could mean that she harbored ill will toward the Herald clan. Until he could find out more, it meant he couldn’t ask any obvious questions that might give him away.

  “So, why exactly were you exiled?” he asked.

  “Wow, right for the personal stuff,” Marrie said, her lips twisting down.

  Before he could say anything or apologize, she waved her hand and let out a snort.

  “Ah, well. It’s not like it’s a big secret. They wanted to marry me off to some bigshot from one of the main families. I said I’d rather die than marry someone I don’t know. So, they banished me.”

  “Marriage?” Roy asked. “You’re what, thirteen years old?”

  “Fourteen,” Marrie said, shooting him a glare. It seemed she was still at that point in her life where age mattered. “But, yeah, I was thirteen at the time. It’s not like it’s uncommon to marry young or anything, but I’m sure you already know that.”

  Roy shrugged. He obviously hadn’t known that, but the very notion sickened him.

  “Judging by what you said, I take it you’re from one of the branch families?” he asked.

  Marrie nodded.

  “From the eastern branch. It’s why my complexion is darker than yours. Judging by your skin tone and looks, I’d say you had to be from one of the main families. I’d say that the Belt color is reason enough for the exile, but after seeing you fight, I’m not so sure. You’re a bit of a mystery, Roy, and one that’s beginning to bug me.”

  “She’s smart,” Geon said. “Can I join up with her instead?”

  Roy ignored the comment and tried to steer the topic in a different direction.

  “You said I reminded you of someone. Who exactly do I remind you of, if I might ask?”

  A look of sadness overcame her, and although the sunlight continued to stream in from overhead, Roy couldn’t help but feel that the arena had suddenly become darker.

  “My teacher and mentor,” she said. “As someone from a branch family, I should have lived my life without attracting much attention, but as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I’m a bit ahead of the curve. I made it to Orange-Belt by the age of ten, and by that point, it was clear I was talented.

  “As you already know, talent like that isn’t ignored by the main families, and they moved me to the Central Spire. That’s where I met Alice. She was so kind and welcoming, and although I was afraid and didn’t fit in at all, she made me feel like we were family. Well, close family anyway.”

  “What happened to her?” Roy asked, already suspecting the answer.

  “She died in a fight against an enemy clan,” she said, the bitter hatred clear in her voice. “After that, they tried to tie me down by marriage, and my refusal hurt their pride so much that they had me banished.”

  “What about your parents? Couldn’t they do anything?”

  Marrie glared at him so hard that Roy knew he’d made a mistake. This was clearly something he should have known as a member of the clan, and if he’d just insulted her without knowing, she would take it as such.

  “Is that why you were banished?” she snapped. “For being disrespectful to those who were your seniors?”

  “You could say that,” Roy replied, thinking back to his treatment at the hands of the Shah. “My life wasn’t exactly comfort and luxury either, so I understand your pain.”

  Marrie’s brow furrowed at that, and she alternated her gaze between his Belt and face.

  “You make no sense, you know that?” she said. “If you didn’t look so much like a Herald, I’d assume you weren’t one. Your dialect is strange, yet your voice is familiar. Your Belt says you’re weak, yet the way you fight says otherwise. I’ve never seen anyone go for five fights in a row with minimal recovery time and come out as unscathed as you have. Your Path is also quite rare among the Herald clan, so I feel like I would have heard of you, especially if you were banished.”

  Marrie tapped her fingers while Roy did his best not to allow the nerves he was feeling to show on his face.

  “Which family were you from?”

  “What do I say?” Roy asked nervously.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Geon replied. “This girl is way too smart for you. I can see how she would be considered a prodigy. Say, you don’t think you can ask her if she knows how to do a Core transfer, do you?”

  Roy slammed his connection with the Core shut after that remark, which still left him with the issue at hand — answering the girl currently boring through him with her stare.

  “It doesn’t really matter,” he finally said. “I’m not technically part of any family anymore, right?”

  Marrie’s eyes narrowed just a bit more, but she didn’t press the issue any further.

  “Well, seeing as we’re both exiles and aren’t going to be receiving any outside help, how about we try and help each other?”

  “And how are we supposed to do that?” he asked.

  “Well, now that there are two of us, we might be able to escape.”

  “Wait, do you know a way out?” Roy asked, lowering his voice so that they wouldn’t be overheard.

  “There might be,” she replied, staring out at the open arena once more. “But it’ll depend on lining up a whole bunch of different fights in an exact order on a specific day.”

  “Care to elaborate?” Roy asked.

  He hadn’t been here for nearly as long as she had, which meant that she had information on this place that he did not.

  “As far as most people know, there’s only a single way out — death. Of course, there’s the theoretical way of being released after paying off debt, but as you already know, that’s never going to happen. But there is a third way, although this one is far riskier. I don’t know if I want to lay the plan out just yet, because if I’m being honest, I don’t know if I can trust you.”

  “Fair enough,” Roy replied. “So, what can you tell me, and how exactly would I go about earning your trust?”

  “We’ll probably be facing a team match in the next fight,” she said,
pushing herself off the ground. “I’ll see how you handle yourself then and make my decision based off of that.”

  “How do you know we’ll be fighting a team?” Roy asked as she stretched her arms above her head.

  “Because you fought five single matches already. They’ll want to mix it up, and team matches often make them more money. People will want to see how you do on a team — if the team will drag you down, if you’ll do well with them, or if you can personally carry them to a victory. Remember, these people are here for a show, and watching the same thing over and over gets boring fast. They promised you’d fight again, which leads me to the obvious conclusion of a team match.”

  With that said, Marrie jogged away, leaving Roy to himself once again.

  “You’re right,” Roy said as he watched her retreating back. “She’s very smart.”

  “Makes you wonder why she was really exiled, doesn’t it?” Geon said.

  Roy agreed with Geon’s sentiment. Despite what she’d said, he didn’t think she’d be exiled for merely refusing a marriage proposal. Marrie wasn’t just a talented fighter. Their single conversation had shown him that she had an extremely sharp mind. No fourteen-year-old should be that smart and intuitive, yet he was convinced that she’d learned more from their conversation than he had, even though she’d done most of the talking.

  “Well, if she likes what she sees in the next fight, maybe we’ll be able to find out more,” Roy said.

  “I know that you need to earn her trust and all, but what about the other way around? It’s not like you know her at all,” Geon said. “For all you know, she isn’t even part of the Herald clan.”

  “I don’t think she’s lying,” Roy said. “Only omitting certain parts of the story. No one can fake the kind of pain I saw when I asked about her teacher. Besides, there was also the way she looked at me. It was as though she were seeing a ghost. I don’t know who this person was, but I have to find out, and if that means earning her trust, then I’ll make sure to do whatever it takes.”

  “Even admitting your real identity?”

  “How many people in the Herald clan would even know I was alive?” Roy said in response. “For nearly my entire life, no one came looking for me. I always thought that my clan didn’t want me because of my deformity, but if I am the Sovereign’s son, I have a feeling that he’d have come looking if he thought I was alive.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Geon asked. “After all, don’t you think he’d have come looking either way if he’d cared to find you?”

  The question was harsh and direct, not that he blamed Geon for asking.

  Truthfully, Roy wasn’t sure. He didn’t know this man at all, and his only memories of his mother were the brief flashes and vague recollections he had of his childhood. But it was something he hoped for. Roy wasn’t sure when he’d be meeting his father, if ever, but when he did, he would be finding out the truth of what happened. He’d have answers as to why he and his mother were even in the Waterwood to begin with and why no one had come looking for him.

  “For now, I don’t think it matters all that much,” he replied. “I don’t think Marrie would believe me, even if I told her who I really was. The Sage and that other guy didn’t. So, for now, I’ll just keep that to myself and try and earn her trust. Then, maybe, we can find our way out of here.”

  23

  Roy sat on the cold bench as Xu and the others scrabbled for the best weapons and armor. It had been over a week since his conversation with Marrie, and despite having plenty of opportunities, she hadn’t initiated another conversation with him. He’d taken this to mean that they would talk more, should she deem his performance in today’s fights worthy of her trust.

  “Why don’t you at least try and take some armor? Your squishy body needs protection.”

  “It wouldn’t take much to pierce any of that armor,” he replied. “My skin is tougher than that, and my Armorer technique can defend me a hundred times better without impeding my movements.”

  Roy could hear the announcer beginning to call the order of today’s fights, and as Marrie had predicted, he soon heard what he’d been waiting for.

  “And for out midway bout, we’ll get to see our rising star Choi take on a legendary Beast with the help of his teammates, Team Ragged!”

  “Looks like we’re fighting together today, ah,” Xu said, sitting down next to Roy and nudging his shoulder. “Team matches are worth more than the regular ones, in terms of paying off our debts, so if we get enough, we might actually be able to work our way free!”

  The others didn’t look so hopeful.

  “How many fights is a team match worth?” Roy asked.

  “Depends on the Beast’s advancement,” Xu said, tightening the straps on his greaves. “But seeing as there are six of us and you’ve proven yourself against a Blue-Belt, we’ll likely see something in the mid-Blue range.”

  That was not an answer Roy wanted to hear. He won that fight against Garnet simply because the man had surrendered, and besides for that, Garnet was only at Base Blue. A Beast would not surrender, and even with a team of Green-Belts, their chances of beating a Beast in the mid-Blues were slim at best and impossible at worst.

  “Don’t you just love your luck?” Geon asked.

  Roy let out a snort of laughter, earning him a questioning look from Xu, which he ignored. He’d never really gotten to the point of liking or really trusting the man. He seemed way too upbeat for a place like this and was far too nosey.

  “Are you sure your techniques will work?” Geon asked as Roy went back to cycling.

  “In theory,” he replied.

  Roy hadn’t actually performed any of the Qi techniques for fear of giving away one of the few surprises he had left. In the last few days, he’d figured out how to use a Physical, Movement, and Armorer technique using Qi instead of Essence. He was sure he could work the others out, but instead of spending his time on those, he’d split his time between cycling and trying to figure out a full body and full-area technique.

  He hadn’t really had much luck where the latter was concerned, but his Core had benefitted from the fruits of his labor. Shining Qi now filled nearly a tenth of his Core, and the rest was packed full of shiny golden Essence. Weaving Qi from Essence took a lot of hard work, but the longer he worked at it, the more proficient he became. Now, he only needed to fill his Core with Qi, and he could start pushing for the 1st Dan in his Green-Belt.

  After filling his Core with Essence, Roy had discovered that he could no longer push his bounds with the weaker type of energy. It was a different feeling than he’d had previously. It no longer felt like there was no room in a waterskin that was full to bursting, but more like he’d come up against a wall made of steel — one that refused to be so much as budged by the Essence.

  It seemed that he’d stretched his Core as far as possible using Essence, and now only Qi would be able to get the job done. Either that or when someone advanced to Green, their ability to expand their Cores using Essence was no longer available. If that were the case, then it made sense that Hermit had been pushing him so hard for so long without allowing him to advance.

  His advancements through Green had been some of the easiest in his life, with the advancements just happening due to his Core already being so packed full of Essence. Now, using Qi, Roy was sure he’d have to keep doing the same thing. So, until the cell doors clanged open over three hours later, Roy simply sat where he was, continually weaving Essence into Qi, while replenishing his Core from the Power Essence generated by the fights in the arena.

  “Let’s go, all of you!” one of the guards shouted, breaking Roy from his trance.

  He opened his eyes, blinking away the fog, to see the rest of the cell’s occupants on their feet. Remy, Noko, and Sue all looked as though they were heading out to their executions, while Xu looked ready to fight. Marrie looked the same as ever, her shoulders tensed, eyes hard, and fists clenched.

  Roy honestly wasn’t sure what
to feel. He didn’t really know his teammates' abilities, and therefore didn’t know how they might coordinate their attacks. Still, there was no better time to learn than on the battlefield, right?

  “You’re all going to die,” Geon said as Roy walked out into the arena to the roars of the crowd.

  This time, they were fighting on a different stage. The ground underfoot was dark, and the field was filled with jagged obsidian. On this stage, the sunlight never seemed to reach them, and the heavy feeling of Darkness Essence was all around.

  “Alright, ladies and gentlemen, for our midway event, we have Choi and his team up against the Ravager! You’ve all seen Choi’s teammates in action before, so you know their odds! But, according to the rules, I need to tell you anyway.”

  The announcer paused, allowing the crowd to laugh at his horrible joke.

  Roy looked around the arena, already noting areas of cover where he’d be able to duck behind if he needed to. His eyes then swept over the crowd and up to the boxes on the far side of the arena. Although he couldn’t make out the man’s face, Roy could almost imagine the Sage, sitting up in his box and staring haughtily down at him. He felt his anger boiling once more at being forced into this situation, but he didn’t allow it to show outwardly.

  More than anger, he felt disgusted at the fact that all these thousands of people were sitting up in those stands, cheering for their deaths. He didn’t think any of them would be cheering quite so loudly if they were tossed in here to fight for their lives. But that was just it. They weren’t in here. He was, and he wasn’t planning on dying just yet.

  The cheering of the crowd intensified as one of the gates on the far side of the arena began to open. Only once it did could Roy feel the power of the Beast within. It was absolutely terrifying and was at least at 3rd Dan, if not higher. The feeling of malice coming from the monster was oppressive.

  “As it always is with Team versus Beast matches, this fight will go on until either half the team is wiped out or the Beast is killed!” the announcer said, his voice booming above the crowd.